water conservation

The holidays and family visits are over, garden goals for the new year have been set, and after nearly four months of constant precipitation the plants are feeling the shock of a sudden shift to the dry season. In the tropics, our work never ends. On our rooftop, we have a mix of containers with unglazed terracotta pots making up the majority. Plastic … Read More

You might have already read that it is monsoon season here and we have plenty of water flowing, but the dry weather always returns and with it severe drought in parts of the island. While I can always turn on the tap to water the rooftop planters, others are not so lucky. My husband, a marketing manager for mosquito coils, once told … Read More

We grow in the tropics, on a cement rooftop, in more than 6 hours of direct sunlight. Needless to say, our garden gets hot. However, though we water only in the cool of late evenings or early mornings, by dusk the following afternoon our soil is still moist and forms loose clumps when squeezed in the palm. The key to healthy soil is … Read More

Intrepid Gardens began in February 2013 as an experimental garden in Colombo, Sri Lanka seeking to provide families and community partners with the resources to grow sustainable food systems in tropical and urban landscapes. With our own 60 square foot rooftop slab, we began experimenting with growing solutions any urbanite could use. Here we share applications and news in permaculture, organics, and sustainable urban living.